Silva Swinton's testimony, which is to continue Monday morning, was
the dramatic high point of the two-week trial. When her name was
called as the next witness, the slender 5-foot-10-inch woman with
five earrings in her left ear and a silver stud in her chin rose from
the defense table and walked without hesitation to the witness box,
the two-inch heels of her shiny black boots clicking as she went.

Joseph Swinton watched his wife's progress. He is not expected to
take the stand before testimony concludes next week. A defense
psychologist told jurors Thursday that he has a seventh-grade
education and an IQ of 78, putting him on the borderline of mental
retardation. His wife, however, has taken a bevy of college classes,
including math, science and literature.

Wearing a salmon-colored blazer over a pastel striped sweater and a
long mint green skirt, Silva Swinton was poised and articulate, often
pausing for a few seconds before delivering her answers. She lost her
composure only once when her eyes welled with tears as she recalled
her daughter's reaction to an MRI in the hospital.

The jury of nine women and three men seemed riveted by her testimony.
All of the panelists have child-rearing experience, either raising
their own children or the children of relatives. No one on the panel
is a vegetarian.

She told jurors that she was drawn to the Vegan diet after battling a
thyroid condition and a weight problem for years. She said that when
she met Joseph Swinton in 1994, she weighed "close to 300" pounds,
but after she changed her diet, replaced medication with herbs and
became more active, she lost 177 pounds.

http://www.cnn.com/2003/LAW/03/29/ctv.swinton/
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